INDIANAPOLIS, April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- When fans head to
Indianapolis for the
NCAA® Men's Final Four® basketball
championship and pre-game festivities, they can expect to enjoy an
enhanced mobile experience as they pull out their wireless devices
to share once-in-a-lifetime moments with friends and family.
AT&T* has expanded its mobile Internet coverage by
completing upgrades to the Distributed Antenna System (DAS) at the
stadium in Indianapolis and the
Indiana Convention Center that
will help fans post selfies and share on social media faster than
ever before, as part of its continuing network investment to
support growing demand for advanced wireless devices and services.
The upgraded DAS at the stadium will provide double the LTE
capacity compared to the end of the 2014 football season.
"When our customers head out in Indianapolis to celebrate and cheer on their
favorite team, we want to ensure they have a great network
experience no matter what they're doing – whether that's making a
call, checking email or sharing their favorite moments on social
media," said Brian Ducharme,
AT&T vice president and general manager Great Lakes Region,
which includes Indiana. "Most of
the network enhancements deployed in Indianapolis for the NCAA® Men's
Final Four® are permanent and will continue to benefit
customers afterward. It's just one way we're continuing to invest
in our Indianapolis area wireless
network."
"Fans sharing memorable NCAA® Men's Final
Four® moments with family and friends as they're
occurring is an increasing part of the excitement surrounding the
championship games," said Keith
Martin, NCAA managing director of marketing and broadcast
alliances. "Being headquartered in Indianapolis, we especially appreciate the
many AT&T network upgrades since they will not only enhance the
experience now but in future as well."
The AT&T Wi-Fi City Hot Zone downtown also has been
optimized, providing fast and reliable Wi-Fi near many popular city
center locations which consistently see high customer traffic and
mobile data use. In addition, AT&T has deployed a Super COW
equipped with the Luneburg Lens Antenna for the first time in
Indiana. The innovative antenna
will provide attendees with nine times the capacity of a
traditional single-beam antenna. This will help fans more easily
send texts, tweets, selfies, videos and more during the
NCAA® Men's Final Four®. The Super COW,
located near the White River park area, will help improve
reliability and data speeds in the week leading up to the games and
during the NCAA® March Madness® Music
Festival - AT&T Block Party.
The Luneburg Lens Antenna is AT&T's latest antenna
technology innovation. The spherical ball antenna sends radio
frequencies more efficiently for cellular usage in various
directions based on how AT&T network engineers coordinate it.
The innovative antenna created to cover big events like the
NCAA® Men's Final Four® will help provide
attendees with the best possible customer experience during the
event.
AT&T enhanced more than 20 Indianapolis cell sites in
Marion County over the past year
by adding new layers of frequency or "carriers," which is like
adding more lanes to a highway carrying traffic from a customer's
device to the cell tower, resulting in faster speeds and more
reliable service. The capacity of the nearby cell towers around the
stadium is double what it was in 2012. These investments help to
ensure that Indianapolis residents
continue to enjoy the best possible experience over the AT&T
network, whether at home, at work or on the go. AT&T's
network has the nation's strongest LTE signal, ** and AT&T also
has the nation's most reliable LTE network.
A DAS installation consists of multiple strategically-placed
antennas that distribute AT&T's wireless network coverage
throughout venues, which provide increased wireless capacity in
heavily-trafficked areas. DAS has the ability to provide
enhanced, consistent wireless coverage to customers in indoor or
outdoor spaces where geographical limitations – terrain, building
construction, etc. – or crowd density might otherwise prevent an
optimal wireless experience.
AT&T's focus to deliver the best possible mobile Internet
experience goes beyond 4G to embrace additional connection
technologies. AT&T owns and operates more than 34,000 AT&T
Wi-Fi Hot Spots at popular restaurants, hotels, bookstores and
retailers, and provides access to more than 1 million hotspots
globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&T smartphone
customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no
additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn't count against customers'
monthly wireless data plans.****
AT&T invested nearly $375
million in its Indianapolis
area wireless and wireline networks from 2012 through 2014 and
nearly $2 billion in its wireless and
wired networks in Indiana between
2012 through 2014. Over the past six years (2009-2014), AT&T
invested more than $140 billion
including investments in its wireless and wireline networks,
acquisitions of wireless spectrum and operations. Since 2009,
AT&T has invested more in the United
States than any other public company. In a September 2014 report, the Progressive Policy
Institute ranked AT&T No. 1 on its list of U.S. "Investment
Heroes."
For more information about AT&T's coverage in Indianapolis or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the
AT&T Coverage Viewer. For updates on the AT&T
wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by
subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T
brand and not by AT&T Inc.
** Claim based on avg. LTE signal strength for
national carriers.
*** Claim based on analysis of independent third party data
re national carriers' 4G LTE. LTE is a trademark of
ETSI. 4G LTE not available everywhere.
**** A Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other
restrictions apply. See www.attwifi.com for details and
locations.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions
of people and businesses around the globe stay connected through
leading wireless, high-speed Internet, voice and cloud-based
services. We're helping people mobilize their worlds with
state-of-the-art communications, entertainment services and amazing
innovations like connected cars and devices for homes, offices and
points in between. Our U.S. wireless network offers customers the
nation's strongest LTE signal and the nation's most reliable 4G LTE
network. We offer the best global wireless coverage. We're
improving how our customers stay entertained and informed with
AT&T U-verse® TV and High Speed Internet services.
And businesses worldwide are serving their customers better with
AT&T's mobility and highly secure cloud solutions.
Additional information about AT&T products and services is
available at http://about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at
@ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/att.
© 2015 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.
AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein
are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T
affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the
property of their respective owners.
Reliability and signal strength claims based on nationwide
carriers' LTE. Signal strength claim based ONLY on avg. LTE signal
strength. LTE not available everywhere. Global coverage claim based
on offering voice and data roaming in more countries than any other
U.S. based carrier, and offering the most wireless smartphones and
tablets that work in the most countries.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
Information set forth in this press
release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking
statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual
results might differ materially. A discussion of factors that may
affect future results is contained in AT&T's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any
obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news
release based on new information or otherwise.
NCAA, March Madness and Final Four are trademarks of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
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SOURCE AT&T Inc.